


some evenings have saved the day

by dreamofspring



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Donuts, Emotional fatigue, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Part 4 spoilers, Sleepovers, can be read as Trigger OT3, set after ch 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 04:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18131030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamofspring/pseuds/dreamofspring
Summary: Noticing that Tenn isn't quite being himself, Gaku and Ryu try to take his mind off the incident with Kujo Takamasa earlier in the day.





	some evenings have saved the day

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Alludes to spoilers for chapter 1 of part 4 of the main story, but without actually describing the event. Reading chapter 1 is required to understand the story.
> 
> Can be read as Trigger OT3, but it's more implied and Ryu is somewhat of a side character (sorry Ryu)
> 
> Title inspired by the song Evenings by Marble Sounds!

“Hey, Tenn?” Ryu hovers in the doorway to the kitchen, worry showing plainly in his drawn eyebrows and uneasy tone. He doesn’t seem to notice the dish cloth in his hands IS dripping water all over the floor.

Tenn doesn’t look up from his phone, but his _“What”_ can still be classified as a question, rather than a signal to stop bothering him immediately. It’s not that Gaku can’t _tell_ \- he’s just… Remembering the shaken, vulnerable expression on Tenn’s face as he reached for the intercom button to talk to Kujo makes his chest ache. As much as Gaku wouldn’t take anything he said back, he might have not been as mindful of Tenn as he should have.

“It’s okay if you’d like to turn in earlier - we are going to get busy again, starting tomorrow. You always said you value your beauty sleep, right?”

“There’s early, and there’s too early. We’ve just had dinner,” Tenn points out, but it’s flat and somewhat tired, without bite. “I’m reviewing some footage now. Could you not treat me like a child who needs nap time after eating?”

“On that tiny screen? Why don’t you use the TV-”

“Gaku!” Ryu hushes him with a harsh whisper. “ And don’t forget to dry your hair after a shower, it’s still cold - but anyway, Tenn…”

“What, you can’t see any details like this! He’s gonna ruin his eyes!”

Tenn raises his voice slightly. “Would you two let me focus?”

It’s then that Gaku notices Tenn’s head is sleepily bobbing forward against his will. Different than after a concert or a day of intensive lessons, he’s pale and quiet, a tense bundle of nerves as he sits curled up on the couch, one arm looped through the hole of a donut-shaped pillow. Even though his eyes are becoming red from rubbing, he still stares at the screen with a stubborn kind of focus. Gaku frowns in confusion; if they had messed up somewhere during their last performance, as important as it was, Tenn would never let him and Ryu hear the end of it. They’d be going over it on the TV for the third time already, probably with notebooks in hand - sitting in a seiza, too. But thinking back, Gaku can only feel the delight of standing on that huge stage again, surrounded by the enthralled smiles of the fans who’ve been hoping and waiting all this time, and the thrill of triumph. No, they have shown what Trigger is made of. He wouldn’t change a thing.

Unless... that _footage_ was not of a Trigger live at all. He moves behind the couch, trying to take a peek, but only catches a glimpse of red hair before Tenn covers  the phone with a hand. It’s not a cold, biting remark that he gets, though, not an angry glare, but a quiet, embarrassed,

“Pervert…”

Gaku blushes wildly, jumping away. A faint echo of Tenn’s usual sarcastic smirk returns to his face.

“Easy as ever, Yaotome Gaku.” Tenn pulls out his earphones with a long-suffering sigh; the vulnerable expression is gone without a trace, replaced by a bland, unimpressed look Gaku knows all too well… But looking closely, he notices a hint of a tell-tale blush on Tenn’s cheeks. He was putting up his walls again. And what’s with going over footage of Nanase? Was Tenn trying to distract himself from the close call earlier today, make himself look better - or was it the other way around? He’s not going to stand there and watch Tenn punish himself, that’s for sure. They’ve just been over this.

“I see it was too much to expect to some peace and quiet here.”

“Are you going to your room?” Ryu asks innocently; he finally remembers about the dishes he’s been drying, and the comforting bustle from the kitchen resumes. “We will keep quiet, then!”

“I said I’m not going to _sleep_ \- “ Tenn stops in his tracks, torn - to Gaku’s surprise, he seems to have changed his mind, looking at Gaku for support. _This brat, I swear…_ But the silent plea in Tenn’s eyes doesn’t seem fake. As he tries to put the clues together, the easiest answer crosses his mind, drawing out an exasperated smile.

_If you didn’t want to be alone, you could’ve just said so._

But what is Gaku the leader for?

“Let him stay, Ryu. Why don’t we all relax and watch something?” Gaku plops down onto the couch and lazily rubs his hair with the edge of the towel slung over his shoulders. For how they barely left home, the day has been exhausting. “Tenn, pass me the remote?”

“Take it yourself… What do you think you’re doing? Come here. Who’s acting like a child now?” Without a second warning, Tenn snatches the towel from his grasp and starts aggressively toweling off Gaku’s hair, roughly enough to jostle him around. “Just you try to get sick and hold back TRIGGER’s activities now, see if I’ll forgive you… And lower your head, you’re too tall.”

“I didn’t mean to! Sor- ry... Must you be so…! - Geez, you’re not cute at all…”

That just earns him a smack with the towel; a light one, this time. The surprises don’t end, however, as Tenn’s drying becomes much more gentle and careful, while still thorough. Trying to control the blush creeping up his face, Gaku can’t help but wonder if that is how he was with Nanase.

“Are you going to turn that TV on or not?”

“I couldn’t see the screen, could I?”

Before all of that mess started, Ryu got a pretty good TV subscription that had yet to end, but all Gaku can find flipping through the channels is reruns and digests from New Year shows, which counts as work, news or action movies  And it’s not just concern for Tenn; after a few explosions, a fake, but disturbingly detailed dead body in some detective drama, and a scene of a city crumbling in the climax of a disaster movie flash past the screen, even Gaku feels it get under his skin. It’s a relief to finally find something neutral.

Tenn’s eyebrows go up. “Discovery?”

“Anything wrong with that?”

“You just didn’t strike me as the type.”

“My mother would sometimes watch it after a day of work. It just came to my mind.”

“Oh. I watched it a few times, when I was studying overseas.” Tenn remarks lightly, his expression unreadable. “I didn’t have much time for distractions, though. I tried to focus on finishing school as soon as possible.”

Gaku casts him a curious glance. The time before Trigger’s formation is not something Tenn would bring up on his own; not with him, at least. “It fits you, the model student image.”

“Does it make you happy, that I was in a hurry to debut with you two?”

The question has a provocative ring to it - which Gaku chooses to ignore. “Yeah. It does. I thought you’d know.”

Tenn turns sharply towards the screen. “So, what is this about?”

The screen shows a guitar being put together by hand; just a glance is enough to tell it’s a high-end one. Gaku is far from an expert, the shape and material strongly remind him of the guitar he’s seen at Yuki-san’s house.

“It seems about to end.”

“They always cover a few things per episode. They should announce the next part about now…”

While Tenn listens to the narration intently enough, the moment the teaser comes up his eyes turn wide and sparkling. Gaku has to resist the urge to snap a picture. In a coincidence so amazing Gaku expects Tenn to accuse him of setting it up, the second half of the episode will talk about how donuts are made.

“Hey, Tenn? Are factory-made still good? I thought handmade would be the best.”

Tenn rolls his eyes, but with the excitement painted clearly across his features, the effect isn’t as strong as he probably would like. “You can’t think about donuts like about _soba._ Sure, you can make them by hand, but how would you expect to achieve the classic shape? The perfectly even glazing?”

Gaku holds his hands up in surrender. “I get it, I get -”

“It isn’t about factory-made, but what kind of factory it is. How strictly the procedures are kept, how high the hygiene standards are… Watch and listen.”

As the calm, informative narration explains the delicate process, going how important proportions and temperature are, Tenn seems to slowly forget about his worries.  He’s no longer all wound up in his seat, and rather than holding it like a shield, he just squeezes it absentmindedly. He doesn’t scoot away from Gaku, either, even though their sides and knees are touching, now.

While at first, he’s more interested in Tenn’s reactions, the soothing voice of the narrator pulls Gaku in as well. There is something deeply satisfying about watching the machines - and people overseeing them - work with such regular precision, too. Gaku’s guard lowers; when Tenn’s head drops to his shoulder, just as the screen shows the donuts entering the glaze, it takes all of self-control from years of training to not jump and jostle him awake.

Unexpectedly, Ryu calls out, “Gaku, did you see the shopping list anywhe- “

“ _Shh!_ ”

Ryu pads over quietly. “Oh… He’s fallen asleep, poor thing.” He reaches out to brush a strand of hair away from Tenn’s eyes. “Sorry, I was just going to do the dishes and join you, but before I noticed, I ended up wiping down all the counters… Want me to carry Tenn to his room?”

Earlier, even Anesagi took a lot of convincing that they would be okay on their own and she can leave for work - now, the bastard Kujo got even to Ryu, their supporting pillar. No wonder Tenn was this exhausted.” Gaku takes a deep breath to steady himself. “No need… But, wait. You said something about a shopping list? I’m on grocery duty, aren’t I?”

“Tenn is, actually,” Ryu whispers back; they exchange knowing looks, “And your turn is next, but I can go. It’s not a problem.”

“Are you sure? You just did all that cleaning, and you may get discovered!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” This time, Ryu ruffles Gaku’s hair and lets his hand rest on top of his head for a moment. “You cooked, after all. I have some excess energy I could use to burn on a walk, too.” There’s a steely edge in his voice, a reminder that Ryu is not just a fluffy teddy-bear outsiders take him for.

“...Okay.”

“Shall I get you something? Don’t say soba,” Ryu jokes.

“If I can’t say soba, what am I supposed to ask for?” Gaku shoots back. “...Something sweet for Tenn?”

Ryu gives him a warm smile. “Sure.”

With a click of the door, Ryu is gone. The show has ended, replaced by advertisements. Not wanting to wake Tenn up, Gaku hurriedly reaches for the remote to turn down the volume. He finds some cooking focused channel and begins to zone out, not really trying to make out how the chef is introducing the recipe, when he realizes something is wrong.

Tenn suddenly tenses up; his nails dig into the donut-shaped pillow, his eyes squeezing tightly shut. His mouth presses into a thin line, as if holding back a sob. He doesn’t toss in his sleep or make any noise - even in the midst of a nightmare, he’s trying to keep himself under control. He still won’t call for help. If he had been sleeping in his own room, behind a closed door, no one would have noticed a thing.

“Hey, Tenn,” Gaku calls out, alarmed; he squeezes Tenn around the shoulders, then shakes him slightly, to no avail. “Tenn, what’s wrong? Are you in pain? Tenn, I’m here -”

Surprisingly, that seems to have an effect. With a small whimper, Tenn curls into Gaku’s side, so trusting it’s hard to believe Gaku is the same guy Tenn doused with a drink the day before. Gaku lays his hand over Tenn’s fist; the anxious grip on the pillow relaxes slightly, and a little more still as Gaku runs his thumb over Tenn’s knuckles.

“It’s just a nightmare. You’re at Ryu’s house - our house - and Kujo’s not here. Listen, no one is going to take you away,” Gaku declares earnestly, because it strikes him that Tenn seems to be make himself small and and hide, the way he didn’t allow himself to when Kujo was at their door. “You can stay here, and we’re not going anywhere either, you hear me? We won’t let that bastard make you anything you don’t want...” a sense of guilt fills Gaku as he recalls how it was Tenn who had to diffuse the situation in the end, while they just stood there, watching - but he repeats, even more fiercely, “We won’t.” He doesn’t want to see Tenn, the strongest center who stood proudly on stage no matter what abuse was thrown his way, who sung Daybreak Interlude with a free, triumphant smile, this afraid ever again.

Gaku doesn’t know if it’s what he’s saying, or just that he’s talking, but Tenn’s breathing becomes deeper and more regular again. Against an irrational fear that Tenn may wake up at any moment and make him regret ever being born, Gaku smoothes out the worry lines on Tenn’s forehead. His frown goes away, replaced by an expression so soft Gaku’s heartbeat speeds up out of control.

“Do you have to be so cute, you brat?” he sighs, “Are you dreaming about the donut factory now?”

The longer he talks, the more he’s convinced it’s about the sound of someone being there. Tenn’s grown restless after Ryu’s departure, once the apartment has grown quieter - which means that he should keep speaking. However, all that comes to his tired mind are… donuts. Those even rows of donuts on the production line must have hypnotized him somehow. Tenn would have a good laugh, was he awake to hear.

“That factory, huh… They let the reporter in, so I wonder if they accept visitors. I’d take you there for a tour. I bet you couldn’t keep a straight face. I’d get your smile and sparkling eyes from every angle, ha… You couldn’t hide that cute side of yours. I know we have to focus now, more than ever. _I know,_ ” he can already feel the icy stare his suggestion would earn him,  “I have no intention of slacking. But even you need a little rest, sometimes, and have fun. Though you’d say there’s nothing more fun than work, I bet.”

It was a small a miracle the TV even worked. If the episode had been about something else, Tenn might not have gotten distracted enough to fall asleep.

“By the way, why haven’t you ever told the press how much you love this stuff? You could’ve gotten in advertisements, collabs…” And it’s ridiculous how he still can’t shut up about _donuts_ \- but the moment the idea appears, he can’t get it out of his head. He would sometimes catch a glimpse of rejected proposals, pushed away into the corner of his father’s desk or carried away by Anesagi to be disposed of, each more interesting than the last, all because they didn’t fit Trigger’s image. Tenn could find any work fun and rewarding, but… “I can imagine all the sweets-themed merch they could release. Which brand wouldn’t want you as their mascot, with those looks? Your hair is practically _pink_ , for crying out loud. You’re already everyone’s angel, what would be the harm? Out of the three of us, you could get away with not being cool all the time. And…”

Gaku looks away, red in the face, keenly interested in the ceiling, all of sudden.

“So what if it’s not cool enough? There’s no way your fans wouldn’t love it, once they saw the face you make when you eat your donuts. I thought my heart was going to stop, the first time I did.”

His face showed nothing but polite appreciation - it would not suit the image of Tenn Kujo to get excited over food - but one bite was enough to see that his indifference was feigned. Tenn’s eyes lit up like two lanterns, opening wide, as if he couldn’t believe something as tasty could exist, before narrowing again in pleasure. A pure, innocent smile slowly bloomed across his face, the cold facade brought down. For a moment, Tenn’s expression was so uncomplicated, as if he forgot about any and all of his worries - and even though Gaku had no idea just how much Tenn had on his mind, back then, that pure smile was enough to make him lose his train of thought.

“You shouldn’t hold yourself back so much. There’s no way anyone wouldn’t love you more, with each new side they saw.”

A yawn escapes his lips. The light in the room is dim, and Tenn’s hair under his cheek is so soft...

 

“Tenn, Gaku! Wake up, sleepyheads! Gaku, your neck is going to hurt… Tenn, you haven’t changed into something comfortable yet. Aww, I feel bad, you look so cute…”

The two of them open their eyes to find Ryuu leaning over them with a huge grin. They instantly jump away to the opposite sides of the couch.

“I didn’t - “

“Ryu, can I check your camera roll? No reason in particular.”

“Don’t glare at me like that, you two, I didn’t take a photo or anything… But look what I’ve got!”

Tenn examines the bag. “Ghibli movies? Why?”

“I was passing by a rental place, and I remembered my brothers liked to watch them when they were down! What do you say?”

“I’m not a _child -_ “

“I am not feeling down!”

“Besides,” Gaku adds, picking up one of the boxes to examine the artwork - he might have missed out on some things, but why is there a pig riding an airplane? “It has actually gotten late now. If we fall asleep on the couch again, Anesagi will kill us in the morning.”

“She will get away with it, too,” Tenn chimes in darkly.

“Don’t worry, I’ve thought of everything. Can you move for a second? Gaku, help me out…”

It turns out that the couch unfolds into a sizeable bed, wider than any of theirs. Ryu beams, “What do you say to a Trigger sleepover?”

The hopeful look on his face wears down Gaku’s defenses. As much as a sleepover may seem unlike them, Ryu deserves this. He was already down from seeing them fight, and it costs them nothing. Gaku exchanges looks with Tenn; they seem to be of the same mind, for once.

“Oh, and Tenn, I got your favorite shampoo! I’m glad I managed to find it… It was running low, right?”

“How… did you know?” Tenn grips the elegant bottle, all shy. “Don’t go checking my bottles, Ryu - Oh, just who am I living with?” He disappears upstairs; a bit after, they hear the door to the bathroom close with a half-hearted bang. Ryu laughs fondly.

Gaku saunters over to the fridge. “Ryu? Drinks and sleepovers don’t go together, do they?”

“I don’t think so…?”

“How about just one beforehand?”

“Well, if it’s just one…”

 

“Just you try to put a pillow over me, Yaotome Gaku, and you will know true pain.”

“Spoilsport. How have pillow forts ever hurt you?”

“Hey, Ryu, we should let Gaku be in the middle, Ryu. Let him have the sibling experience, if he’s missing it so badly.”

“Aww, Gaku, come here!

“You little…. Fine, I’m going to my room. You two have fun.”

Just as he’s about to get off the couch, a delicate hand grabs a fistful of his shirt in a steel grip. Tenn brings his face closer and whispers,

“Gaku. Does the kind of man you are break promises?”

“Wha-?!”

Before he can process what just happen - _Tenn couldn’t - he couldn’t have heard?_ Tenn wriggles his way into the middle with a satisfied _oof._ He drags the snack bowl over from Gaku’s side and starts kicking his legs in the air.

“So, shall we find out why the pig flies?”

“You haven’t seen this one either, Tenn?”

“No, I have. Gaku hasn’t, though.”

Gaku drops down to the mattress with a defeated sigh. As Ryu gets up to put the movie on, Tenn starts stacking cookies into a little tower, humming as if he never enjoyed himself more. Once Ryu picks it up too, Gaku has to hush them to hear the theme song.

Oh, well… Maybe sleepovers weren’t so bad, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time ever writing Trigger, so... please be gentle.


End file.
